UNIT 18

CORRELATION

Correlation

Objectives
After completion of this unit, you should be able to :

understand the meaning of correlation

compute the correlation coefficient between two variables from sample
observations
test for the significance of the correlation coefficient
identify confidence limits for the population correlation coefficient from the
observed sample correlation coefficient
compute the rank correlation coefficient when rankings rather than actual values
for variables are known
appreciate some practical applications of correlation
become aware of the concept of auto-correlation and its application in time series
analysis.

Structure
18.1 Introduction
18.2 The Correlation Coefficient
18.3 Testing for the Significance of the Correlation Coefficient
18.4 Rank Correlation
18.5 Practical Applications of Correlation
18.6 Auto-correlation and Time Series Analysis
18.7 Summary
18.8 Self-assessment Exercises
18.9 Key Words
18.10 Further Readings

18.1 INTRODUCTION
We often encounter situations where data appears as pairs of figures relating to two
variables. A correlation problem considers the joint variation of two measurements
neither of which is restricted by the experimenter. The regression problem, which is
treated in Unit 19, considers the frequency distributions of one variable (called the
dependent variable) when another (independent variable) is held fixed at each of
several levels.
Examples of correlation problems are found in the study of the relationship between
IQ and aggregate percentage marks obtained by a person in SSC examination, blood
pressure and metabolism or the relation between height and weight of individuals. In
these examples both variables are observed as they naturally occur, since neither
variable is fixed at predetermined levels.
Examples of regression problems can be found in the study of the yields of crops
grown with different amount of fertiliser, the length of life of certain animals exposed
to different amounts of radiation, the hardness of plastics which are heat-treated for
different periods of time, and so on. In these problems the variation in one
measurement is studied for particular levels of the other variable selected by the
experimenter. Thus the factors or independent variables in regression analysis are not
assumed to be random variables, though the dependent variable is modelled as a
random variable for which intervals of given precision and confidence are often
worked out. In correlation analysis, all variables are assumed to be random variables.
For example, we may have figures on advertisement expenditure (X) and Sales (Y) of
a firm for the last ten years, as shown in Table I. When this data is plotted on a graph
as in Figure I we obtain a scatter diagram. A scatter diagram gives two very useful
types of information. First, we can observe patterns between variables that indicate
whether the variables are related. Secondly, if the variables are related we can get an
idea of what kind of relationship (linear or non-linear) would describe the
relationship. Correlation examines the first

17

Table 1

Forecasting Methods

Yearwise data on Advertisement Expenditure and Sales

Year

1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979

Advertisement
Expenditure
in thousand Rs. (X)

Sales in
Thousand
Rs. (Y)
50
50
50
40
30
20
20
15
10
5

700
650
600
500
450
400
300
250
210
200

question of determining whether an association exists between the two variables, and
if it does, to what extent. Regression examines the second question of establishing an
appropriate relation between the variables.
Figure I: Scatter Diagram

The scatter diagram may exhibit different kinds of patterns. Some typical patterns
indicating different correlations between two variables are shown in Figure II.
What we shall study next is a precise and quantitative measure of the degree of
association between two variables and the correlation coefficient.

18.2 THE CORRELATION COEFFICIENT

Definition and Interpretation
The correlation coefficient measures the degree of association between two variables
X and Y. Pearson's formula for correlation coefficient is given as
(18.1)

18

Where r is the correlation coefficient between X and Y, a% and ay are the standard
deviations of X and Y respectively and n is the number of values of the pair of

Correlation

variable X and Y in the given data. The expression

is known as
the covariance between X and Y. Here r is also called the Pearson's product moment
correlation coefficient. You should note that r is a dimensionless number whose
numerical value lies between +1 and -1. Positive values of r indicate positive (or
direct) correlation between the two variables X and Y i.e. as X increases Y will also
increase or as X decreases Y will also decrease. Negative values of r indicate
negative (or inverse) correlation, thereby meaning that an increase in one variable
results in a decrease in the value of the other variable. A zero correlation means that
there is no association between the two variables. Figure H shows a number of scatter
plots with corresponding values for the correlation coefficient r.
The following form for carrying out computations of the correlation coefficient is
perhaps more convenient

19

Forecasting Methods

Activity A
Suggest five pairs of variables which you expect to be positively correlated.

Activity B
Suggest five pairs of variables which you expect to be negatively correlated.

A Sample Calculation: Taking as an illustration the data of advertisement

expenditure (X) and Sales (Y) of a company for the 10-year period shown in Table 1,
we proceed to determine the correlation coefficient between these variables :
Computations are conveniently carried out as shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Calculation of Correlation Coefficient

This value of r (= 0.976) indicates a high degree of association between the variables
X and Y. For this particular problem, it indicates that an increase in advertisement
expenditure is likely to yield higher sales.

20

You may have noticed that in carrying out calculations for the correlation coefficient
in Table 2, large values for x2 and y2 resulted in a great computational burden.
Simplification in computations can be adopted by calculating the deviations of the
observations from an assumed average rather than the, actual average, and also
scaling these deviations conveniently. To illustrate this short cut procedure, let us
compute the correlation coefficient for the same data. We shall take U to be the
deviation of X values from the assumed mean of 30 divided by 5. Similarly, V
represents the deviation of Y values from the assumed mean of 400 divided by 10.

The computations are shown in Table 3.

Correlation

Table 3
Short cut Procedure for Calculation of Correlation Coefficient
S.No

UV

U2

V2

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Total

50
50
50
40
30
20
20
15
10
5

700
650
600
500
450
400
300
250
210
200

4
4
4
2
0
-2
-2
-3
-4
-5
-2

30
25
20
10
5
0
-10
-15
-19
-20
26

120
100
80
20
0
0
20
45
76
100
561

16
16
16
4
0
4
4
9
16
25
110

900
625
400
100
25
0
100
225
361
400
3,13
6

We thus obtain the same result as before.

Activity C
Use the short cut procedure to obtain the value of correlation coefficient in the above
example using scaling factor 10 and 100 for X and Y respectively. (That is, the
deviation from the assumed mean is to be divided by 10 for X values and by 100 for
Y values.)

18.3 TESTING FOR THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE

CORRELATION COEFFICIENT
Once the correlation coefficient has been calculated from sample data one is
normally interested in asking the question: Is there an association between the
variables? Or with what confidence can we make a statement about the association
between the variables?
Such questions are best answered statistically by using one of the following two
commonly used procedures :
i)

Providing confidence limits for the population correlation coefficient from the
sample size n and the sample correlation coefficient r. If this confidence interval
includes the value zero, then we say that r is not significant, implying thereby
that the population correlation coefficient may be zero and the value of r may be
due to sampling variability.

21

Forecasting Methods

ii) Testing the null hypothesis that population correlation coefficient equals zero vs.
the alternative hypothesis that it does not, by using the t-statistic.
The use of both these procedures is now illustrated.
The value of the sample correlation coefficient is used as an estimate of the true
population correlation p. It is desirable to include a confidence interval for the true
value along with the sample statistics. There are several methods for obtaining the
confidence interval for p. However, the most straight forward method is to use a chart
such as that shown in Figure III.
Figure III: Confidence Bands for the Population Correlation

Once r has been calculated, the chart can be used to determine the upper and lower
values of the interval for the sample size used. In this chart the range of unknown
values of p is shown in the vertical scale; while the sample r values are shown on the
horizontal axis, with a number of curves for selected sample sizes. Notice that for
every sample size there are two curves. To read the 95% confidence limits for an
observed sample correlation coefficient of 0.8 for a sample of size 10, we simply
look along the horizontal line for a value of 0.8 (the sample correlation coefficient)
and construct a vertical line from there till it intersects the first curve for n =10. This
happens for p = 0.2. This is the lower limit of the confidence interval. Extending the
vertical line upwards, it again intersects the second n =10 line at p = 0.92, which
represents the upper confidence limit. Thus the 95% confidence interval for the
population correlation coefficient becomes
If a confidence interval for p includes the value zero, then r is not considered
significant since that value of r may be due to nothing more than sampling
variability.
This method of using charts to determine the confidence intervals is convenient,
though of course we must use a different chart for different confidence limits (e.g.
90%, 95%, 99%).
The alternative approach for testing the significance of r is to use the formula

22

Referring to the table of t-distribution for (n-2) degrees of freedom, we can find the
critical value for t at any desired level of significance (5% level of significance is
commonly used). If the calculated value oft (as obtained by equation 18.3) is less
than or equal to the table value, we accept the hypothesis (Ho: the correlation
coefficient equals zero), meaning that the correlation between the variables is not
significantly different from zero:

Suppose we obtain a correlation coefficient of 0.2 for a sample of size 10.

Correlation

And from the t-distribution with 8 degrees of freedom for a 5% level of significance,
the table value = 2.306. Thus we conclude that this r of 0.2 for n = 10 is not
significantly different from zero.
It should be mentioned here that in case the same value of the correlation coefficient
of 0.2 was obtained on a sample of size 100 then

And the tabled value for a t-distribution with 98 degrees of freedom and a 5% level
of significance = 1.99. Since the calculated t exceeds this figure of 1.99, we can
conclude that this correlation coefficient of 0.2 on a sample of size 100 could be
considered significantly different from zero, or alternatively that there is statistically
significant association between the variables.

18.4 RANK CORRELATION

Quite often data is available in the form of some ranking for different variables. It is
common to resort to rankings on a preferential basis in areas such as food testing,
competitive events (e.g. games, fashion shows, or beauty contests) and attitudinal
surveys. The primary purpose of computing a correlation coefficient in such
situations is to determine the extent to which the two sets of rankings are in
agreement. The coefficient that is determined from these ranks is known as
Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, r.
This is given by the following formula

Here n is the number of pairs of observations and di is the difference in ranks for the
ith observation set.
Suppose the ranks obtained by a set of ten students in a Mathematics test (variable X)
and a Physics test (variable Y) are as shown below :
Rank for
variable X

10

Rank for
variable Y

10

To determine the rank correlation, rs we can organise computations as shown in

Table 4 :
Table 4
Individual
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total

Determination of Spearman's Rank Correlation

Rank in
Rank in
d =Y -X
Maths(X)
Physics(Y)
3
+2
1
2
1
-I
3
4
+1
4
2
-2
5
6
+1
6
9
+3
7
8
+1
8
10
+2
9
5
-4
10
7
-3

d2
4
1
1
4
1
9
1
4
16
9
50

23

Forecasting Methods

Using the formula (18.4) we obtain

We can thus say that there is a high degree of correlation between the performance in
Mathematics and Physics.
We can also test the significance of the value obtained. The null hypothesis is that the
two variables are not associated, i.e. r, = O. That is, we are interested to test the null
hypothesis, Ho that the two variables are not associated in the population and that the
observed value of rs differs from zero only by chance. The t-statistic that is used to
test this is

Referring to the table of the t-distribution for n-2 = 8 degrees of freedom, the critical
value for t at a 5% level of significance is 2.306. Since the calculated value of t is
higher than the table value, we reject the null hypothesis concluding that the
performances in Mathematics and Physics are closely associated.
When two or more items have the same rank, a correction has to be applied to
d i 2 . For example, if the ranks of X are 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, ... showing that there are two

items with the same 3rd rank, then instead of writing 3, we write 3

1
for each so that
2

the sum of these items is 7 and the mean of the ranks is unaffected. But in such cases
the standard deviation is affected, and therefore, a correction is required. For this,
d i 2 is increased by (t3-t)/12 for each tie, where t is the number of items in each

tie.
Activity D
Suppose the ranks in Table 4 were tied as follows: Individuals 3 and 4 both ranked
3rd in Maths and individuals 6, 7 and 8 ranked 8th in Physics. Assuming that other
rankings remain unaltered, compute the value of Spearman's rank correlation.
.
.
.
.

18.5 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF CORRELATION

24

The primary purpose of correlation is to establish an association between any two

random variables. The presence of association does not imply causation, but the
existence of causation certainly implies association. Statistical evidence can only
establish the presence or absence of association between variables. Whether
causation exists or not depends merely on reasoning. For example, there is reason to
believe that higher income causes higher expenditure on superior quality cloth.
However, one must be on the guard against spurious or nonsense correlation that may
be observed between totally unrelated variables purely by chance.
Correlation analysis is used as a starting point for selecting useful independent
variables for regression analysis. For instance a construction company could identify
factors like
population
construction employment
building permits issued last year which it feels would affect its sales for the
current year.
These and other factors that may be identified could be checked for mutual
correlation by computing the correlation coefficient of each pair of variables from the
given historical data (this kind of analysis is easily done by using an appropriate
routine on a computer). Only variables having a high correlation with the yearly sales
could be singled out for inclusion in a regression model.

Correlation is also used in factor analysis wherein attempts are made to resolve a
large set of measured variables in terms of relatively few new Categories, known as
factors. The results could be useful in the following three ways :
i)

Correlation

to reveal the underlying or latent factors that determine the relationship between
the observed data, -

ii) to make evident relationships between data that had been obscured before such
analysis, and
iii) to provide a classification scheme when data scored on various rating scales have
to be grouped together.
Another major application of correlation is in forecasting with the help of time series
models. In using past data (which is often a time series of the variable of interest
available at equal time intervals) one has to identify the trend, seasonality and
random pattern in the data before an appropriate forecasting model can be built. The
notion of auto-correlation and plots of auto-correlation for various time lags help one
to identify the nature of the underlying process. Details of time series analysis are
discussed in Unit 20. However, some fundamental concepts of auto-correlation and
its use for time series analysis-are outlined below.

18.6 AUTO-CORRELATION AND-TIME SERIES

ANALYSIS
The concept of auto-correlation is similar to that of correlation but applies to values
of the same variable at different time lags. Figure IV shows how a single variable
such as income (X) can be used to construct another variable (XI) whose only
difference from the first is that its values are lagging by one time period. Then, X and
XI can be treated as two variables and their correlation found. Such a correlation is
referred to as auto-correlation and shows how a variable relates to itself for a
specified time lag. Similarly, one can construct X2 and find its correlation with X.
This correlation will indicate how values of the same variable that are two periods
apart relate to each other.
Figure IV: Example of the Same Variable with Different Time Lags

25

Forecasting Methods

One could construct from one variable another time-lagged variable which is twelve
periods removed. If the data consists of monthly figures, a twelve-month time lag
will show how values of 'the same month but of different years correlate with each
other. If the auto-correlation coefficient is positive, it implies that there is a seasonal
pattern of twelve months duration. On the other hand, a near zero auto-correlation
indicates the absence of a seasonal pattern. Similarly, if there is a trend in the data,
values next to each other will relate, in the sense that if one increases, the other too
will tend to increase in order to maintain the trend. Finally, in case of completely
random data, all auto-correlations will tend to zero (or not significantly different
from zero).
The formula for the auto correlation coefficient at time lag k is:

where
rk denotes the auto-correlation coefficient for time lag k
k denotes the length of the time lag
n is the number of observations
X, is the value of the variable at time t and
X is the mean of all the data
Using the data of Figure IV the calculations can be illustrated.

A plot of the auto-correlations for various lags is often made to identify the nature of
the underlying time series. We, however, reserve the detailed discussion on such
plots and their use for time series analysis for Unit 20.

18.7 SUMMARY

26

In this unit the concept of correlation or the association between two variables has
been discussed. A scatter plot of the variables may suggest that the two variables are
related but the value of the Pearson correlation coefficient r quantifies this
association. The correlation coefficient r may assume values between -1 and 1. The
sign indicates whether the association is direct (+ve) or inverse (-ve). A numerical
value of r equal to unity indicates perfect association while a value of zero indicates
no association.
Tests for significance of the correlation coefficient have been described. Spearman's
rank correlation for data with ranks is outlined. Applications of correlation in
identifying relevant variables for regression, factor analysis and in forecasting using
time series have been highlighted. Finally the concept of auto-correlation is defined
and illustrated for use in time series analysis.

Correlation

18.8 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

1

What do you understand by the term correlation? Explain how the study of
correlation helps in forecasting demand of a product.

A company wants to study the relation between R&D expenditure (X) and annual
profit (Y). The following table presents the information for the last eight years:
Year
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981

R&D Expense (X)

(Rs. in thousands)
9
7
5
10
4
5
3

Annual
Profit (Y)
(R45 i
42
41
60
30
34
25
20

a)

Plot the data on a scatter diagram.

b)

Estimate the sample correlation coefficient.

c)

What are the 95% confidence limits for the population correlation
coefficient?

d)

Test the significance of the correlation coefficient using a t-test at a

significance level of 5%.

The following data pertains to length of service (in years) and. the annual income
for a sample of ten employees of an industry:

Compute the correlation coefficient between X and Y and test its significance at
levels of 0.01 and 0.05.
4

Twelve salesmen are ranked for efficiency and the length of service as below :
Salesman
Efficiency (X)
Length of
Service (Y)
A
1
2
B
2
1
C
3
5
D
5
3
E
5
9
F
5
7
G
7
7
H
8
6
I
9
4
j
10
11
K
11
10
L
12
11
a)

Find the value of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, rs

b)

Test for the Significance of rs

An alternative definition of the correlation coefficient between a twodimensional random variable (X, Y) is

27

Forecasting Methods

where E(.) represents expectation and V(.) the variance of the random variable. Show
that the above expression can be simplified as follows :

(Notice here that the numerator is called the covariance of X and Y).
6

In studying the relationship between the index of industrial production and index
of security prices the following data from the Economic Survey 1980-81
(Government of India Publication) was collected.
70-7171-72 72-73 73-74 74-75 75-76 76-77 77-78 78-79
Index of
Industrial
(1970-100)
Index of
Security
Prices

101.3 114.8 119.6 122.1 . 125.2 122.2 135.3 140.1 150.1

100.0 95.1

96.7 116.0 113.2 96.9 102.9 107.4 130.4

(1970-71-100)

a)

Find the correlation between the two indices.

b)

Test the significance of correlation coefficient at 0.01 level of significance.

Compute and plot the first five auto-correlations (i.e. up-to time lag 5 periods) for
the time series given below :

18.9 KEY WORDS

Auto-correlation: Similar to correlation in that it described the association or mutual
dependence between values of the same variable but at different time periods. Autocorrelation coefficients provide important information about the structure of a data
set.
Correlation: Degree of association between two variables.
Correlation Coefficient : A number lying between -1 (Perfect negative correlation)
and + i (perfect positive correlation) to quantify the association between two
variables.
Covariance: This is the joint variation between the variables X and Y.
Mathematically defined as

for n data points.

Scatter Diagram: An ungrouped plot of two variables, on the X and Y axes.
Time Lag: The length between two time periods, generally used in time series where
one may test, for instance, how values of periods 1, 2; 3, 4 correlate with values of
periods 4, 5, 6, 7 (time lag 3 periods).
Time-Series: Set of observations at equal time intervals which may form the basis of
future forecasting.

18.10 FURTHER READINGS

28

Box, G.E.P., and G.M. Jenkins, 1976. Time Series Analysis, Forecasting and
Control, Holden-Day: San Francisco.
Draper, N. and H. Smith, 1966. Applied Regression Analysis, John Wiley: New

York.

Correlation

Edwards, B. 1980. The Readable Maths and Statistics Book, George Allen and
Unwin: London.
Makridakis, S. and S. Wheelwright, 1978. Interactive Forecasting: Univariate and
Multivariate Methods, Holden-Day: San Francisco.
Peters, W.S. and G.W: Summers, 1968. Statistical Analysis for Business Decisions,
Prentice Hall: Englewood-Cliffs.
Srivastava, U.K., G.V. Shenoy and S.C. Sharma, 1987. Quantitative Techniques for
Managerial Decision Making,Wiley Eastern: New Delhi.
Stevenson, W.J. 1978. Business Statistics-Concepts and Applications, Harper and
Row: New York.

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